As Heavy As Stone
by TheSmallSpoon
Summary: The first time Dan realizes Blair is unhappy is at the dinner celebrating his and Serena's 2nd anniversary. Not my characters so don't sue. Fic inspired by the song The Stone


**This is inspired by the song The Stone by Dave Matthews Band. My classmate was playing this song in her car as she drove me home and I really liked the song, even though I really don't know much about the band, this song resonated. **

**Again not my characters, so don't sue. You wouldn't get much anyways.**

**Dave Matthews Band The Stone **

**I've this creeping  
Suspicion that things here are not as they seem  
Oh, reassure me  
Why do I feel as if I'm in too deep?  
Oh, I've been praying  
For some way to show them  
I'm not what they see  
Oh, I have done wrong  
But what I did I thought needed be done  
I swear  
**

**Oh, Unholy day  
If I leave now I might get away  
God knows it weighs on me  
As heavy as stone and as blue as I go  
**

**I was just wondering if you'd come along  
Hold up my head when my head won't hold on  
I'll do the same if the same's what you want  
But if not I'll go  
I will go a long way  
**

**Far from that fool's mistake  
And now forever pay  
No, run  
I will run and I'll be ok  
**

**I was just wondering if you'd come along  
Hold up my head when my head won't hold on  
I'll do the same if the same's what you want  
But if not I'll go  
I will go a long way  
**

**To bury the past  
For I don't want to pay  
Oh, and I wish this  
To turn back the clock and do over again  
**

**I was just wondering if you'd come along  
Hold up my head when my head won't hold on  
I'll do the same if the same's what you want  
But if not I'll go  
I will go alone  
**

**Oh, I need so  
To stay in your arms see you smile hold you close  
Oh, And it weighs on me  
As heavy as stone and a bone chilling cold  
**

**I was just wondering if you'd come along  
Just tell me you will**

Let it all fall out  
Let it all fall out

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XO

The first time Dan realizes Blair is unhappy is at the dinner celebrating his and Serena's 2nd anniversary.

She gets drunk quick on the champagne being served. She laughs loudly and he see's the tension in Chuck's face as he keeps trying to calm Blair down.

They finally leave when Blair asks Dan about Scott.

"How is your brother anyways? Hmm? How come I didn't see him at the wedding? Or at any of your family functions? Serena, do you ever talk to Scott?"

Dan sees the hurt look Serena gives Blair. Serena gets up and walks away from table.

Chuck grabs Blair's arm and announces that they are leaving.

"But why? The party is just getting started! We have to celebrate Dan and Serena! Jenny's here, so is Eric! So why not Scott? He is family after all! Closer to both really." Blair says as Chuck starts to stand Blair up.

"Stop it! You're embarrassing me and yourself!" Chuck says firmly as he starts to pull her away.

"Sorry Humphrey, I don't know what's gotten into her. Henry, gather your coat!" Chuck says to his son.

Henry obliges his dad and follows his parents out the door.

That night after comforting Serena Dan stares up at the ceiling as he mentally curses Blair and her foul mouth.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Dan comes home early from the publishing firm he works at. He's surprised to see Serena and Blair sitting at the dinner table.

Serena is shining and bubbly as she welcomes Dan from home.

Blair turns to him, gives him a hard look and turns away.

Blair gathers her purse and excuses herself, stating she has to pick Henry up from school.

She walks towards the door and past Dan. As she passes Dan she says, "Humphrey" perfunctorily and heads out.

Dan doesn't look at her.

Later Serena tells him that Blair had come over to apologize and Serena, or course, forgives her, ready to put any ugly incident behind them.

Dan feels his heart swell with love as he looks on at her, reveling in how beautiful she is. But that night he dreams of Blair. Blair stands in front of him in the doorway of his home and she's shouting, he can tell. He can't hear anything. She yells one last thing and turns away from him.

Dan wakes up from the dream confused about why he should be dreaming about Blair.

He wakes Serena up and buries himself into her, trying to forget his dream.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Dan doesn't see Blair again for another month. They are at a party at her and Chuck's home. Henry is with Dorota in Queens.

Dan watches as Blair smiles, but he knows it's not a real smile. She greets all of Chuck's business partners and speaks to them politely, but Dan has observed Blair long enough to know when she is being sincere.

The only time she smiles warmly is when she talks to Serena. The only time her smile falters is when she makes eye contact with Dan or when she watches Chuck talk to a blonde across the room.

The blonde is leggy and blonde, but that's where the similarities with Serena end. Serena is golden, sunny, this blonde is icy, the silver to Serena's gold. She reminds him of a blonde and taller Blair.

He realizes that Blair must see the similarities. He watches as Blair forces a smile as she reenters a conversation with one of the shareholders for Bass Industries.

Dan thinks she's gotten good at pantomiming happiness.

The only time he sees her betray her charade is when she watches Chuck and the icy blonde enter his office. Her hands quiver as they play with the necklace around her neck.

An idea for a novel is born in Dad's head that night.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 

Dan's new novel is published and the Basses don't come to the release party. Not that Daniel is surprised. He hasn't seen them since the party at their home.

It's another book based on Blair. Though he tries his hardest to disguise it.

It's a story about a man, an observer, watching a marriage between two very powerful people fall apart. In the end the wife ends up killing her husband and his mistress.

He's pretty sure that the Basses won't read it. Chuck had never read Inside and Blair had told Serena that she wouldn't be wasting her time celebrating or reading Dan's latest attempt to get onto a bestseller list.

So Dan is surprised a week later when he watches Blair storm down the hallway to his office at the publishing firm as his assistant scurries behind her stating that Dan is not in his office.

She catches sight of Dan walking back towards his office with coffee cup in hand.

"Blair Bass, can I help you?" Dan asks as he nods to his assistant. Telling her it's okay. She looks at him confused and walks back to her desk.

"Yes you can! What the hell is this?!" Blair states as she holds up his latest novel.

Dan looks at the novel and smirks at Blair, "So you do read my work! I'm touched!"

"Humphrey!" Blair grinds out as Dan starts to lead her into his office.

He closes the door and faces her.

"I know you think this is about you but it's not entirely-" Dan starts.

"Spare me the bullshit Humphrey! I'm not Serena, I can see through your lies!" Blair yells at him.

Dan gives her a hard look.

"Why would you write this Humphrey?! Why? Did you think that I wouldn't hear about the reviews, about the plot?! What about Henry?! Hmm? What if he reads it later when he gets older?!" Blair says as she throws the book at Dan.

Dan sits down and leans back in his chair. He just looks at her and doesn't say anything.

"Goddamnit Humphrey! Answer me!" Blair nearly screams.

"Why did I write about this? Why wouldn't I? I'm a writer! I observe the world around me! I write about it! Why wouldn't I write about you? Why would I care how my book affects the Basses? Why shouldn't I write about how unhappy Blair makes Chuck and how unhappy Chuck makes Blair? It's not like we're friends and I don't owe you anything." Dan says as he looks her in the eye.

He watches as Blair walks up to him in his chair. She walks around his desk and towers over him.

She cocks her hand back and slaps him hard across the cheek.

He catches her other wrist as she attempts to slap him with her other hand. He grips at it. He watches as she winces a bit at the pressure he applies. His cheek is stinging and he imagines the palm print on his face.

He looks at her hand. It's tiny. He can't believe that such small hands have the capability of causing such pain.

He looks up at her and she looks unsure. He's not sure but he thinks he sees a slight trembling of her lip. The moment is brief, she gathers her composure and her face hardens as her eyes turn icy.

He releases her hand, "You need to leave before I call security."

Blair gives him a hard look before she turns on her heel. When she reaches the door she turns to him one last time, "What's wrong with you Humphrey?"

He can hear her heels clicking as she walks down the hallway, the sound getting fainter and fainter.

Its only when he can't hear her anymore does he get up and pick up the book that Blair had thrown at him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 

Dan leans across the bar and looks across the room at Blair. It's once again another soiree at some other Upper East Side venue. He's so tired of these functions but goes and watches as Serena glides through the room.

He hears her laughing and looks over at her as she slaps Nate's arm. Nate is grinning at her and feigns injury.

Dan rolls his eyes at the sight. He knows that Nate still loves Serena, always will, but he just wishes Nate could hide his affection for his wife when Dan's around. Just like Dan hides his irritation for Nate's infatuation.

He turns his attention back to Blair. He can see the unhappiness in her face as she watches Chuck discuss finance with the same icy blonde. He sees that Blair's not even trying to attempt to hide her unhappiness.

He's got himself parked at the bar hoping that she will come by to get a drink. He knows she wants one, she's been looking at the bar all night. Onence when she made eye contact with Dan she looked like she was swallowing something disgusting, as she looked away he watched her rub her wrist.

He wants her to come over, to have to stand next to him. Feel uncomfortable as she stands by him to order a drink. However she never does. Just spends her time looking miserable.

He only leaves the bar to dance with Serena. She giggles every time he steps on her feet and he apologizes. While he's dancing he looks back at the bar and he sees Blair is there, drink in hand watching him and Serena unhappily. He dances with Serena a little more and watches as Blair orders 3 more drinks and downs them.

Serena cups his cheek and he brings his eyes back to his wife. "Where are you tonight?" Serena asks and smiles at him.

Dan presses a kiss to her forehead, "Sorry Serena, I've just been preoccupied with work and stuff. I need to stop, it's not fair to your toes that I can't keep my full focus on dancing." Dan says as he pulls himself from her.

Serena gives him a big smile, "Okay, I'm going to see if Nate will cut a rug with me."

"Have fun" he says as he turns away. He walks back to the bar. He watches as Blair downs another drink and pays her tab. She walks away quickly as he gets within 5 feet of the bar. He watches her retrieve her coat and walk out the door.

He doesn't know why but he finds himself following her.

She's waiting at the curb, hiccupping as he comes up to her.

"You're an alcoholic" Dan states at her blankly.

Blair turns towards him and stumbles a bit. He makes no move to steady her.

"What?!" Blair asks.

"You're an alcoholic" Dan repeats.

Blair narrows her eyes, "Oh I see! Are you looking for another story Humphrey?! Upper East Sider, with old vice of bulimia, insecure, marries a powerful man, unhappy in marriage, drinks herself to death. You're welcome" Blair slurs.

"You're unhappy" Dan states and he watches as Blair's eyes go big.

"You don't know anything Humphrey!" Blair spits out.

"I actually know quite a bit, a lot really, when it comes to you. We used to be friends, once upon a time" Dan says softly.

Dan watches as Blair gives him an uncertain look. Her car arrives and she looks at him. "That was a very long time ago." She whispers as she steps into her car.

Dan watches the car until it takes a turn.

Dan thinks about the mournful look she gave him as she said that they were friends a long time ago.

He goes back into the party and stands at the bar and watches as his wife dances with Nate.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 

Dan walks into his home and is surprised to see Blair sitting in his foyer.

"Blair, where's Serena?" Dan asks.

"She left, she said she had a lunch date with her mom" Blair says as she stands up.

"Okay, so what are you doing here?" Dan replies.

Blair looks down at her hands and he watches as she fidgets with the ring on her finger, "I wanted to apologize" he watches as she swallows hard, "for coming to your place of work and…. Anyways, it was inappropriate."

Dan almost takes a step back, "It was" he agrees.

She looks up at him, "But you can't write about me being an alcoholic Dan."

Dan smiles to himself, "Dan huh?" he says bitterly

"Please, you were right, we used to be friends, in fact for a time you were my best friend. I'm begging, don't write about me drinking, I don't want Henry to know." She pleads and he sees the tears shinning in her eyes.

He nods and motions for her to sit down as he takes a seat across from her.

"I don't get it Blair. Why are you so unhappy? You have everything you've ever wanted." Dan asks softly.

Blair takes a shaky breath. She looks away and starts speaking again, "The first one's name was Moira. She was his secretary. Her perfume of choice was Gucci's Envy. It was revolting really. Laying in my bed, having the scent of that perfume on my pillows watching as Chuck snored contently. But what could I do? I was 7 months pregnant with Henry. When I confronted Chuck about it he apologized, said he loved me, swore that he would end it and it would never happen again. He did end it, and we were happy for a few years after Henry was born. The second one was Aubrey. Another brunette, she was the wife of one of his business partners. I had no idea. No rancid perfume was left on my pillows. He had learned his lesson. Why bring her to my house when he has a hotel full or rooms? I only found out because her husband told me when she told him that she was having an affair with Chuck, she was leaving her husband, they were in love, and she was carrying Chuck's baby. " Blair pauses as a tear falls down her face. "It's a girl. Aubrey named her Evelyn, Chuck sends them money every month to help support Evelyn. Henry doesn't even know he has a half-sister. She's beautiful really." Blair clears her throat, "There have been countless others, Chuck tells me that all great men cheat, but it doesn't mean he loves me any less. Now I can't even sleep with him. Which Chuck asks me what I expect him to do, he is a man after all." Blair says bitterly. "The platinum blonde is Sylvia. She's comes from a very rich and powerful family that dates back to the signers of the independence. I don't say anything. So I drink instead." Blair ends.

Dan stands up and sits next to Blair and pulls her into an embrace. She sinks into it and he can feel her relax.

"I'm sorry Blair." Dan says as she strokes her hair.

She pulls back and gives him a small smile.

"Are you hungry? I came early hoping to surprise Serena and take her to lunch, but looks like I'm stuck with her best friend. So how about it?" Dan offers her.

She laughs and little and wipes the tears off her face, "Okay, but I get to choose the restaurant."

"Fair enough" Dan says.

They eat lunch at a French restaurant. Blair laughs as she watches Dan try to order off the menu, trying to pronounce the words.

He finally gives up and points at the item on the menu as the waiter rolls his eyes.

They talk for 2 hours. Reminiscing about high school, laughing about the times they had when they were younger and catching up on the past 7 years that they haven't really been friends.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XO

They start to meet up for movies and lunch. Dan doesn't hide it from Serena and Serena exclaims that she's glad that they are getting along. She's busy anyways she says.

Blair and Henry become regular visitors to dinner at the home Dan and Serena share. Blair always calls Serena, telling her that she and Henry don't want to eat alone, explaining Chuck has another long night at the office. Serena is more than happy to have her and Dan finds himself enjoying these nights, getting to know Blair's son. He's pompous like his dad, hell, like his mom, but there are times when he can see Blair poke out of Henry as he contemplates a thought.

He and Blair are out one day walking around her neighborhood when a sudden downpour catches them off guard, they run into her house laughing. Henry isn't home from school and the house is empty.

Her tights being wet she has a hard time walking on the hardwood floor of her house. She end up slipping and Dan tries to catch her but manages to end up on the floor with her. She laughing and he's grinning at her and he's not sure but they end up kissing. It catches them both off guard and he's not sure who initiated it first.

He feels Blair's hand go up the back of his neck as she plays with the curls in his hair and he pulls her in for another kiss. This time though he's fervent. His intention is clear and Blair matches his passion. When she finally pushes him off her he's sure she's going to tell him to leave. He almost hopes she will, because he doesn't think he can leave on his own accord and he has to block the small voice in his head that keeps telling him that Serena doesn't deserve this.

But instead she bites her lip and looks at him with eyes full of desire, she takes his hand and leads him upstairs. He doesn't protest.

He never stood a chance.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 

After they are done he sits on the side of the bed. Blair sits up on bed and pulls her legs up to her chin.

Dan sits there knowing that Blair can see the tremendous guilt that he's feeling.

Dan gets up and pulls on his boxers.

"We're disgusting people aren't we?" Blair asks tearfully.

Dan looks back at her and gives her a little nod.

"This never happened. This will never happen again. We can't tell Serena" Blair whispers.

Dan gives her another nod and dresses himself. As he walks out of the Bass home he finds himself having a hard time breathing. He tries to calm himself as he walks along the Upper East Side, heading to the home he shares with Serena. He promises that it will never happen again. He will stop seeing Blair. That they can go back to how it was before, their only thing in common being Serena.

The bright smile Serena gives him as he walks in the door pound another nail into his coffin of guilt. He buries himself into his wife that night, trying to erase the day's indiscretion into her.

Blair and Henry stop coming by for dinner. Serena saying that Blair always has some excuse.

At parties him and Blair will be cordial to each other and smile, feigning small talk until Serena walks away. Then Blair breaks eye contact from him and walks to the bar where she stays, refusing to talk to anyone at the party as she drinks after drink.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XO

Dan groans as his phone rings. It's 2 AM. He half expects it to be Serena. Serena is in Montecito visiting Eric and she was never good at time zones.

He's surprised that it's Blair.

He answers it and waits for her to talk. He's confused when a man starts talking.

"I'm sorry, I'm calling for Dan Humphrey. There's a lady here at the bar, and she's pretty drunk and she needs to leave but I don't feel good just sending her out into the night, um, do you think you can come get her?"

"Who is this?" Dan asks groggily.

"I'm sorry I'm the bartender. When I asked her if there was someone I could call to come get her, she said to call Dan. You're the only Dan listed in her phone, can you come get her?" He asks again.

"Sure, okay, where are you at?"

The bartender tells him where and Dan makes the trip to some dive bar in Queens.

When he finds her she's almost passed out. He gets her into a cab and thinks about taking her to her home but he decides against it. She's really drunk and he's afraid she may fall trying to get to a bathroom.

So instead he brings her to his and Serena's home and puts her into the guest bedroom and puts a glass of water on her nightstand and a small trashcan near her bed.

When he wakes up the next morning he checks up on her. She's grimacing in her sleep and he sees that she hasn't had to use the garbage pail, but she's drank the whole glass of water sometime during the night.

He sighs and texts Serena letting him know about what happened.

He goes into the bathroom and starts a shower. He's surprised when Blair opens the door to the bathroom. He silently curses the faulty lock on that door.

When Blair strips down and gets into the shower with him he turns his back to her, closing his eyes and trying to remind himself that he and Blair can't do this again. But he can feel the heat growing in his thighs, letting him know that while he keeps telling himself he doesn't want this his body very much wants it.

He holds his breath as Blair presses herself against his back and wraps her arms around him.

He grabs at her hands and looks at them. Seeing the nail polish chipped on her nails as he entwines his fingers with hers. He sighs as he turns around and faces her.

She looks at him uncertain and he pulls her against him in an embrace.

They don't even make it to his bed, they end up on the bathroom floor and it's fast and frantic, with each of them grabbing at each other, Blair's teeth biting at his shoulder as she tightens around him and comes with his name on her lips. He doesn't last much longer after that.

He finds out that Henry and Chuck are both in London for ten days. Chuck decided it would be a good idea to bring Henry on this business trip to teach him about the business young, after all it will all be his someday.

She doesn't leave his house that day. She spends all day there and he enjoys it. Regardless of all the guilt he feels when he presses her against the wall of the bedroom he and Serena share as he pushes himself into her. He loves how she gasps and wraps her legs around him as he sucks on her neck.

When Serena comes back he and Blair continue their trysts. This time finding different places. Sometimes her home, sometimes a hotel, once in a dark alley. Blair looks at him slyly and tells him she is feeling nostalgic.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XOXOXO

Blair is laying in bed and she turns over to look at Dan. They are in a hotel room in Manhattan.

She looks at him and he cups her cheek.

"What are you thinking?" He asks her.

"That I'm a bad person. How can I do this to Serena? I want you so bad, but that doesn't excuse this at all." Blair says as her eyes fill with tears.

Dan looks at her guiltily and nods.

"Do you love her?" Blair asks.

Dan looks away, "Yes. I do. I love her, but I also love you too." Dan admits.

Blair curls herself into his side. "I love you too. I don't know how I managed to make this big of a mess of our lives. I sometimes fantasize that I live with you instead of Serena. That I had told you that I loved you that night you told me you loved me. That I never ran after Chuck, that I followed you to Rome. That we walked around Rome and fell deeper in love. We would have married, you are Henry's father." She rambles.

Dan turns to look at her rubs her arm.

"But it didn't happen that way." Dan whispers.

"No, it didn't. I'm sorry Dan. I should have never left you." Blair whispers.

"Blair… are you happy? " Dan asks her cautiously.

"No," she scoffs. "I'm happy when I'm with you, the few hours a week I get where we meet up in some hotel room, or at my house, are the happiest moments of my life now. How fucked up am I? That I'm only happy when I'm fucking the husband of my best friend? I'm an Upper East Side cliché." Blair says angrily.

"Do you…. Do you love Chuck?" Dan asks.

She sits up then and Dan sits up with her.

"No, I don't love Chuck. I did, at one time, when we got married and after Henry was born, but it didn't last." She looks at Dan, "You were right, in your book, I'm in a loveless marriage."

"So why do you stay with him?" Dan says as he starts to play with her hands.

"How can I leave him? He's Henry's father, where will I go? I would just end up with nothing. Chuck is powerful. Who would I go to? You? Are you going to leave Serena?" Blair asks bitterly.

"No…. but-" Dan stammers.

"See, what do I have waiting for me if I leave Chuck? Anyways, I can do this for now." Blair answers matter of factly.

"This isn't going to go on forever Blair. I'm married. I love my wife." Dan says as softly as he can.

Blair looks as if she's been slapped.

"I know that Dan. I know." Blair says softly as she nods.

They get dressed and go back to their lives. They keep meeting up for their trysts and the conversation is never brought up again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XOXOXOXO

Dan sits at the dinner table at the Bass household. He finds himself looking over at Blair throughout dinner.

Serena announces at the table that she's pregnant.

Dan is stunned and ecstatic. He pulls Serena into a sweet hug and kisses her deeply.

Chuck shakes Dan's hand and congratulates him..

He watches as the emotions play across Blair's face. She sits there stunned and then she looks hurt, and then she puts on a brave smile and embraces Serena and holds her tightly as she says congratulations. When Serena pulls apart from her Blair has tears running down her face. Blair convinces her that she's crying because she's so happy. Everyone is so absorbed with Serena that no one can tell that she's lying. No one but Dan.

She shakes his hand and he feels the tremble in her hand, hears her voice waver as she tells him congratulations.

The next week Blair, Chuck, and Henry move to Paris.

Chuck tells Serena that Blair begged him to move. That she wanted to be in New York for Serena's pregnancy but that she had a wonderful opportunity waiting there for Waldorf Designs. Chuck confides in Serena and says that she told him she needed to get away and Chuck agreed because he thought it would be a good opportunity to expand the Bass empire overseas and that he wanted to try to work on his marriage with Blair. He fears that she is having an affair, he doesn't know who with.

While Dan hugs Serena as she tells him this he feels a part of his heart crumble. He silently curses Chuck Bass. He could only see the value in Blair when he was in danger of losing her. When he felt secured that he had her he would deny that he loved her, sold her for hotels, or slept with Moira, Aubrey, and Sylvia. It was only when Chuck was in trouble of losing Blair that he would become the man she deserved.

So he and Serena go on with their lives. Fall into their routines as they prepare for baby. Three nights before they go in to find out the sex of the baby is when Serena wakes up in a puddle of blood. They rush her to the hospital and they are both given the news that she's lost the baby.

Serena is devastated. Dan too. Blair flies into New York and she stays with them. Helping Serena through her grief, buying Dan coffee in the mornings trying to help him get past his loss. He's grateful for it.

He asks how things with Chuck are going but she closes her eyes and shakes her head. He never asks again.

She leaves a week later and Dan hugs her tightly thanking her. She cups his cheek and presses a soft kiss to his forehead.

Serena asks him for a divorce a month later. She tells him that she had been sleeping with Nate for a good 6 months before she got pregnant. She was going to leave Dan when she found out she was pregnant. In fact she had hoped it was Nate's so that she could leave him, but it was impossible as she conceived sometime in the month that Nate was at the Van der Bilt estate up north. She decided to make it work with Dan then, to tough it out.

She knew about him loving Blair all these years and she was actually relieved when Blair had moved to Paris, knowing that she wasn't there, constantly reminding Dan of what he lost to Chuck Bass, it would make it easier for her and Dan to repair their marriage.

However with the miscarriage she sees no reason in pretending anymore.

Dan begs her to stay with him and she just presses a kiss to his temple and says she's sorry. She tells him she really wanted it to work out as she walks out the door.

Dan understands Blair's fear of being left with no one when he asked her why she stayed with Chuck. But the difference is that Dan did love Serena. It was a different love, but it was love. Sure he loved Blair too, but it hurt to know that he had none of them in his life anymore.

He moves back into the loft.

Rufus having moved out years ago to an apartment on the Upper West Side with Lisa Loeb.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XOXO

Dan and Serena's divorce is amicable. It doesn't make any of the gossip columns. Divorces where all parties agree are boring anyways.

Dan goes on with his life. He writes a few more novels. He writes about Serena, dedicates a whole novel to her, his way of apologizing to her for writing about Blair all these years, even while they were married.

Serena emails him telling him she loves the novel, even the parts where he was brutally honest.

It isn't long until he starts to write about Blair. These are new stories, but the woman is always based on Blair.

A year after his divorce is finalized he reads in the paper that Chuck and Blair are divorcing. It makes the headlines.

Chuck's Parisian mistress killed herself after Chuck refused to leave his wife for her.

Aubrey came forward, showing the world Evelyn and told her story.

Someone interviewed her and wrote a book about Chuck's dead mistress and the mother of his love child.

The author tried to sell the book to the publishing firm Dan works at. Dan threatens to leave the firm if they agree to publish it. They cave to Dan's demands, as he is a valuable asset and the books he writes make them a lot of money.

Somehow Chuck finds out about it and sends Dan an email thanking him. Dan never responds.

He hears from people that Blair Waldorf has moved back to New York. She and Chuck share custody of Henry, but she walked out of that divorce even richer than when she entered it.

She's respected in some circles, and in some other circles she's lambasted as a woman who knew of Chuck's indiscretions but married him anyway, waiting for the right moment to cash in for her pay day.

This always angers Dan, they don't know how her heart broke during her marriage to Chuck. They never held her while she silently cried into their shirts.

But he never reaches out to her. And she never reaches out to him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XOXOXOXO

A year after Blair has moved to New York Dan exits the MET. He smiles to himself as she sees a brunette sitting on the steps.

All he can see is her back and her hair, pulled into impeccable chignon, her neck as beautiful as he remembers it, her posture rigid and perfect. He spends a good 2 minutes trying to decide if he should go up to her and say something, or just leave her in the past. Eventually he decides to walk up to her, there is no walking away from Blair Waldorf, not for Dan Humphrey.

He walks up to her and takes a seat next to her. She looks over at him surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Blair asks surprised.

"I was bored, in the neighborhood, so I decided to check out the MET. Walked out and had to rub at my eyes and check the year on my cellphone, because I see Blair Bass sitting on the steps of the MET." Dan says smiling at her.

"Blair Waldorf" Blair corrects him.

"What are you doing here?" Dan asks as he grins at her.

Blair shrugs and props her chin in her hand as she looks on at a bunch of girls in Constance school uniforms siting on the steps below her. "I got out of a meeting early, decided to walk, ended up here, decided to sit and think."

"Ahhh, reminiscing?" Dan says as he pokes her in her ribs.

"More like critiquing. I swear I don't know what young girls are thinking these days" Blair says as she gestures to the girls below them.

Dan laughs, "I envy them, they obviously don't live under the tyranny of a Queen B lambasting them for their fashion choices."

Blair looks at him and rolls her eyes, "They could use one! See! My critiques were for the greater good, nobody on the MET steps ever looked that awful."

"Do you want to get some coffee?" Dan asks rolling his eyes.

Blair looks at him from the corner of her eye and huffs, "I suppose. I could grace you with my presence for a few hours today." Blair says.

"How gracious of you" Dan chuckles

Dan stands up and helps Blair up. She slips her hand in to the crook of his elbow and they walk down the stairs together and through the streets of New York getting to the nearest café, laughing.

Dan looks over at Blair as they walk. Her cheeks getting rosy from the cold and her eyes shining at him as she giggles at the jokes he tells her.

Dan isn't sure where this will go, hell he does know what this is, he's just happy that Blair is back in New York again.

He feels as if he's just found something he had lost long ago.

**I was just wondering when you'd come a long… Just tell me you will…..**

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

**Okay, so I wanted to write something with a happy ending after everyone told me of the PAIN I put them through with The Best Of You and The Best Of Me. **

**I hope you like it. I kept it angsty (what can I say, I love the genre) but I also thought that we deserved a happy ending after what I had written with my last story and that ghastly last episode. **

**The lyrics at the beginning of the story is by the Dave Matthews Band. I must admit, I'm really not a fan of the band, but I was in my classmates car and she is, and this song came on and I thought the lyrics were fitting for Dair/Chair. I just started to imagine those lyrics applying to them. If I could do video manips, I would totally do a Dair MV to this song. But alas, technology and me are a mercurial.**

**Just in case it's not clear, in this story everything in season 6 and the finale happened EXCEPT Dan being GG. ****HORSESHIT!**

**So please Read and Review. Let me know what you think. It's a one shot. After The Best Of You and The Best Of Me I don't think I will be doing anything other than one shots, hahaha.**


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